Former Illinois Gov Ryan convicted on all charges

As detailed in this article, another high-profile post-Booker sentencing is on the horizon after a “federal jury convicted former Gov. George Ryan today on all charges that as secretary of state he steered state business to cronies in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits for himself and his family.”  The article notes that Ryan’s “racketeering conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison,” but the story of the guidelines calculation and Booker issues make the sentencing realities nuanced and complicated.

In fact, Eric Zorn at the Chicago Tribune was ahead of the curve on this story when he blogged here that Ryan’s conviction would not mark “an ending,” but rather serve as “[j]ust the beginning of a whole new process.”  I would recommend White Collar Crime Prof Blog as the go-to source for commentary and analysis of all the past and future Ryan action.

For now, I’ll just pose one question for reader comment: What sentence should a 72-year-old former state governor (who, by the way, commuted all of Illinois’ death row at the end of his term) get for his conviction “on 18 counts of racketeering, mail fraud, false statements and tax violations”?